Will Texas lose federal bacon as Cruz replaces Hutchison?

Texas’ new U.S. senator-elect, Ted Cruz, has repeatedly taken a cautious approach when asked about how he’ll fill Kay Bailey Hutchison’s shoes when it comes to Texas’ share of federal funding.

Cruz said while campaigning that he’ll work to see Texas gets a fair portion of “legitimate and important” federal spending but added, “I have yet to talk to a single voter who says the problem in Washington is that our elected officials are not bringing enough bacon home. I think if you get 435 members of Congress and all 100 members of the U.S. Senate viewing their job as just feeding at the trough… that is how you bankrupt the country.”

Voters may not specifically clamor for bringing home the bacon, but when military base realignment happens or a program like NASA faces challenges, federal funding can affect their jobs and Texas’ economy.

Every town in Texas – big and small – has its monument to Hutchison. In Houston, she’s championed the federal government’s $900 million commitment to Metro. Recently, a plaque thanking her for “relentless leadership” was placed on the San Antonio River’s Mission Reach, which procured $245 million in federal funds with Hutchison’s help.
Texas has moved from sixth place to third in the nation in federal research dollars, largely because of her role in founding the The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas. Hutchison has been vilified for getting earmarks. But it’s hard to imagine Texas without the projects she’s championed.

Rice University political scientist Mark P. Jones notes that Hutchison vigorously took on the task of protecting Texas’ interests, while U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has “focused much more on internal Senate politics.”

“Who, if anyone, is going to pick up that slack?” Jones asked. “And if no one does, will that lead to a reduction in defense spending and therefore an adverse impact on the economies of places like San Antonio, El Paso, Killeen, Texarkana?”